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Tracking records: Often it's the music that makes the movie
By SARAH HART Assistant Scene Editor
Published: 10/9/2009 2:20 AM
Last Modified: 10/9/2009 4:35 PM
 Read Sarah Hart's blog on other soundtracks: Bad movies with good tunes.
If it weren't for soundtracks, would any of us know as much music as we do? It's sort of like classical music and Bugs Bunny: I'm not sure I'd know any if not for "The Rabbit of Seville."
Soundtracks are random, diverse and can outshine their companion movie. Sometimes they make you discover a band you've never heard before. Sometimes you buy a soundtrack and the whole thing is amazing.
Sometimes, you just like that one song from that one scene: The part where the music stood apart from the plot, forever linking it with a scene.
Soundtracks are the metronomes of movies, the auditory placesetters of film. And they make up a sizable portion of my music collection.
So I've narrowed down some of my favorites from the past 30 years or so — didn't want to go too far back, because that's getting into musical theater territory and that's a whole other story. A caveat: I tried to stick with well-known movies and their soundtracks. As it turned out, most of these are compilation albums.
The 100-Percenters
Good from the top down. Always worth a listen. Never a dull moment. Timeless.
5. Purple Rain, Prince and the Revolution
I’ve had this on vinyl, tape and CD. I remember
my mother gave me
an option on birthday presents:
twister beads or “Purple Rain.” I took the vinyl version
of Prince’s star-making masterpiece. It’s flawless,
if you’re into the crazed musings of a tortured
star. My favorites: “Take Me With U,” “Baby I’m a
Star,” “Let’s Go Crazy” and the always emotional
title track “Purple Rain.
4. O, Brother, Where Art Thou?, various artists
Who else but the Coen Brothers could make
songs like “I’ll Fly Away” and “Man of Constant
Sorrow” relevant to an entire generation? The
movie was great, but the soundtrack really outlived
it. Best: “Big Rock Candy Mountain,” Harry Mc-
Clintock; “Keep On the Sunny Side,” The Whites
(which my mother raised me on); “In the Jailhouse
Now,” The Soggy Bottom Boys. Let’s face it. The
whole thing is pretty great.
3. Dazed and Confused, various artists
The songs were radio gems from the late 1970s
but worked so well with the plot that they are
forever linked in my mind to Randall “Pink” Floyd,
Wooderson, Slater and the boys. Highlights:
“Stranglehold,” Ted Nugent; “Jim Dandy,” Black Oak
Arkansas; “Low Rider,” War.
2. Singles, various artists
Maybe it’s because it was my second year in college.
Maybe it’s because I’m a 30-something who
feels ownership of the Seattle sound. Whatever the
case, this soundtrack was on such constant rotation
from 1994 to 1997 that I’ve purchased at least three
copies. Nearly every song is a masterpiece it seems.
There are some weaknesses, but all in all, it’s
Cameron Crowe’s greatest soundtrack. Favorites:
“Breath,” Pearl Jam (my all-time favorite Pearl Jam
song); “Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns,” Mother
Love Bone (This song defines the Seattle sound. I’m
so glad Crowe included Mother Love Bone, because
without them, grunge as we know it wouldn’t have
existed.); “May This Be Love,” Jimi Hendrix. What a
nice touch.
1. Garden State, various artists
Everyone from Gen X to Y to whatever the teens
are now owns this soundtrack. It’s as close to perfect
as you can get (despite the fact that it opens
with Coldplay). It’s got the way-too-cool Shins vibe,
in addition to class reimaginations of Men At Work
songs by former frontman Colin Hay. Highlights:
“New Slang,” The Shins; “Waiting Line,” Zero 7;
“Overkill,” Colin Hay.
Honorable mentions: “Juno,” “The Wedding Singer,”
“Slumdog Millionaire,” “American Beauty.
The 50-Percenters
Halfway decent soundtrack, not something you’d
listen to from start to finish, but has a few good’ns.
5. Flashdance, various artists
It has some really craptastic songs, but the good
ones are really good. I’ve re-bought this on CD
(I had to find it on eBay; it’s not on iTunes) and
haven’t been disappointed. Highlights: “Imagination,”
Laura Branigan; “He’s a Dream,” Shandi
(the very same Shandi who inspired KISS’ song
“Shandi); “What a Feeling,” Irene Cara. Say what
you want, this is a perfect workout song and makes
you feel happy. Lowlights: “Lady, Lady, Lady” by Joe
Esposito.
4. Almost Famous, various artists
You’ve got to give Cameron Crowe credit in formulating
this one. He didn’t want it to include the
same songs as the “other” 1960s and ’70s movies,
such as “Dazed and Confused” and the like. He
picked some unusual stuff, and that’s not even
including the stuff from made-up band Stillwater.
Hits: “Every Picture Tells a Story,” Rod Stewart (The
scene in which the title character William Miller
(Patrick Fugit) chases Penny Lane (Kate Hudson)
down the street to the Stewart song is etched in
my memory. Love it.); “I’ve Seen All Good People/
Your Move,” Yes; “That’s the Way,” Led Zeppelin;
and “Something In the Air,” Thunderclap Newman.
Misses: “Sparks,” The Who (sorry, I’m a huge Who
fan and even I don’t care for this song).
3. Trainspotting, various artists
Such a gut-wrenching movie, complete with
scenes that made my skin (and that baby) crawl.
But the soundtrack is sublime. It plays like a heroin
binge (I’m assuming), fast and slow, jerky and
calming, magic, mystery and malaise. Highlights:
“Mile End,” Pulp; “Lust for Life,” Iggy Pop; “Temptation,”
New Order; and “Atomic,” a Blondie cover by
the band Sleeper. The ambient stuff is good, too,
but gets a little droning. Sorry, Brian Eno, but you
could try a three-minute song every now and again.
2. Boogie Nights, various artists
The premise of the movie may have been the
adult film industry, but disco is definitely
the star of the soundtrack. It’s fun and
flashy, but a little too entrenched in
the Sounds of the ’70s. Groovy:
“Spill the Wine,” War; “Brand
New Key,” Melanie (I bought
this soundtrack for those
two songs; they remain my
favorites). Mark Wahlberg
and John C. Reilly’s cocaine-
fueled comeback
songs “The Touch”
and “Feel the Heat,”
are pretty funny
and awful, all at the
same time. Bummers:
“Magnet and
Steel,” Walter Egan;
“Sister Christian,”
Night Ranger (man
alive, didn’t we get
enough of this song
in the ’80s?); “Ain’t
No Stoppin’ Us
Now,” McFadden and
Whitehead.
1. Pulp Fiction, various artists
Scoff if you will.
You may think it’s the
greatest soundtrack of all
time. It’s pretty dang good.
But it’s not a 100-percenter.
Highs: “Son of a Preacher
Man,” Dusty Springfield. Thank
you, Quentin Tarantino, for reviving
this song. Such a classic. “Flowers
on the Wall,” Statler Brothers;
“Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon,” Urge
Overkill. Lows: “If Love Is a Red Dress,
Hang Me in Rags,” Maria McKee (what a
downer); “Lonesome Town,” Ricky Nelson; and
some of that surf music gets a little tiresome after
a while.
The 10-Percenters
Maybe two good songs. You’re
kind of embarrassed to own this
soundtrack. Thank God for iTunes,
now you don’t have to buy the
whole thing.
5. The Craft, various artists
I admit I bought this before I saw the movie.
The movie was awful. The soundtrack, only
marginally tolerable. The reason I bought it:
“Jump Into the Fire,” Tripping Daisy. Still one of
my favorite songs. It’s a mostly remake CD, an
unfortunate by-product of the New Voices of the
’90s. They shouldn’t have: “How Soon Is Now?”
Love Spit Love; “I Have the Touch,” Heather
Nova; “Dangerous Type,” Letters to Cleo.
4. Cruel Intentions, various artists
I didn’t hate this movie, and I didn’t loathe the soundtrack. But the bad heavily outweighed
the good. Salvageable: “Praise
You,” Fatboy Slim and “Colorblind,”
Counting Crows. (Plus that scene has
Ryan Phillippe at the top of the escalator
wearing a brilliant blue shirt, looking
morose. It fits, it works.)
3. Romeo and Juliet, various artists
You’ll probably hate me for saying this,
but I only like one song off this soundtrack,
and I don’t even really like it anymore. “No.
1 Crush” by Garbage was the reason I had
the soundtrack, but it’s certainly not been in
rotation for quite some time.
2. High Fidelity, various artists
I realize it’s high art and all that. I get it.
I adore the movie (where do you think I
got the idea for all these Top 5 lists?) but
the soundtrack kept me wanting more. It
seems there was better music in the movie
than was actually on the CD. Reasons I
own it: “Oh! Sweet Nuthin’” Velvet Underground
and “I Believe,” a Stevie Wonder
love song that actually takes some of the
pall off the dark, dreary soundtrack.
1. Friday, various artists
One of my favorite movies of all time
had some great music. Not all of it made
it to the soundtrack. Some hits: “Trying
to See Another Day,” The Isley Brothers;
“Keep Their Heads Ringin’ ” Dr. Dre; and
“I Wanna Get Next to You,” Rose Royce.
They cleaned up that problem with the
“Old School Friday” soundtrack, all the
great oldies from the movie that got lost
among the gangsta rap songs.
Sarah Hart 581-8480
sarah.hart@tulsaworld.com
By SARAH HART Assistant Scene Editor
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